Communication - Bit of History Super Highways

bycyberterry

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6 years ago

Introduction:

When thinking about communication and relating to people, it’s interesting to compare the methods we have today such a talking, writing, the Internet and Smart Phones, with the way things were back in time. To do this it would be helpful to touch on history, giving us a better perspective on a bygone age to this present time. The difficulty I had in writing this blog was deciding how much information to put in or what to leave out ?. The final paragraph Conclusion ( It’s A Wrap ) is in effect, a summing up of the way speech and writing started to be used, did it reach a peak prior to the Industrial Revolution’s momentum and now is on the decline due to progress in technology?. In particular, how do we relate to others now?. Do we write letters, go on social networking sites like facebook, send emails, text messages, or chat through the day using our Smart Phone?. We need to consider the way this technology is used in communicating to others. Some people seem to feel completely immune to what they broadcast online or say in chat, regardless of other peoples feelings. Therefore, it’s important that whatever we may “post online” or send via text messages, they are carefully worded and designed to be helpful and supportive to others.

If you want to pass over the rest of the Blog and go direct to “It’s A Wrap”, that’s fine I won’t mind a bit ????

Writing:

Writing started to develop 4000BC, we've come a long way since then. From chippings on a rock, writing on Scrolls, Quill and Ink, the Typewriter and Biro today; it’s sending an email. The more elegant era of writing, would be the days of the Quill and Ink, especially having seen some carefully written examples beautifully done.

Speech:

It would be fascinating to have seen and heard how our early ancestors communicated with each other. Would it have been with grunts, waving of arms, facial expressions and maybe a “bit of physical persuasion”, if not understood?. I sometimes think that there's an element of that’s still lurking around in our society today (lol). In a sense, there is a parallel between writing and speech. For me I would vote for Ye Olde English in the Quill and Ink days, for writing and speech. Wouldst Thou Agree?. It would be “odd” of course, to write and talk like this in today's busy world.

Original Meaning of Conversation: The word Conversation In the early days meant your conduct or behaviour in the way you lived. Today it means having an oral exchange between people of information covering personal, family, interests, business or whatever’s on your mind. To have a conversation now we have lots of technology to help but what did we do before we had all these “goodies” at hand?, especially before the 1800’s, we used speech “face to face” and the written word. People had the time or should I say made the time, to write letters. Without the transport systems we have now, travel was not easy so a letter to someone at a distance could be regarded as a valuable resource. The 1800’s Onwards: As society moved into the 1800’s there was a leap forward in various sciences. Ideas were put forward via speech and the written word. Naturally, news and communications travelled at a much slower pace than today. If we send a letter now as opposed to an email we call it “snail mail”, what was it like in those days?. Never the less, progress in various areas of science, led to at least, a basic understanding of electricity, magnetism and engine development. The first two enabled communication to be made by Telegraph, Telephone, Radio but the third one “Engine Development was the last to past the post before it had reached a level where it made a difference to society. In this context, I was thinking about powered flight and petrol/gasoline motor vehicles. Karl Benz ran his first car 1885 and Gottlieb Daimler in 1886. The first Man carrying powered flight by the Wright Brothers in 1906 became possible when Daimler’s small “single cylinder engine” power unit was invented.

Super Highways Helping Communication:
Roman Roads:
The first that jumps to mind, the roadway system the Romans built. Over a 500 year span the Roman Empire expanded into most of the then known world. As they expanded they built road systems “similar” to our motorways. This enabled them to move supplies and men quickly and opened up trading routes between countries. In effect, it was a big move forward in communications. To this day, remains of their roads can be found in various parts. Where I lived in the UK there are remains of a Roman Road, just a couple of miles away.

Telegraph & Submarine Communication Cables:

Telegraph was developed in the 1800’s which in effect became a “superhighway” for communications. The British Empire “as it was known” was connected to the world by a network of “Submarine Communication Cables” around 1870 creating what you could call for that particular time a Super Highway using telegraphy. When on holiday in Cornwall (UK) I came across Porthcurno Cove in Cornwall, it was small, secluded with a little sandy beach. There was also a brick building which I found to be the old “Telegraph House” where the cables brought ashore were connected to form a communication network, covering many countries. Telephone & Radio: Quickly on the heels of telegraphy came “speech” by Telephone/Radio. Study and experiments in electricity, magnetism and “radio waves” made rapid progress over the 1800’s. By the early 1900’s Telephones and Radio were established. Knowledge built upon Knowledge brought us to the situation today where we have the Internet, Computers, Smart Phones and Smart tvs.

It’s A Wrap: Conclusion

In the early days of “writing and reading” it would have been a specialist job i.e. For Scribes or those going into Holy Orders and those wealthy enough to be educated to the standards of that day, the general public would have been “poor and illiterate,” Education, was available way back in the centuries but not available to the general public until the 18th and 19th centuries. People tended to live in closely knit families, their main way of communication would be by personal contact. Moving into the 20th and 21st Century has seen the development of the Telegraph, Telephone, Radio, Air Travel and the Internet, together, these have opened up the world. Whilst there are massive benefits in our “Modern Day Society”, it has brought along its challenges.

How do we relate to others? Yes, there is still personal contact but millions of people have taken to the Internet and the Smart Phone has become an indispensable tool. Communication has changed, texting has turned writing into a form of shorthand. The trend in writing letters is going down to be replaced with emails. There is some folk who think it’s perfectly okay to use the Internet ie Social Media to say what they like about whoever??, I feel that it would make a difference if they were face to face with their “target”. The one problem we have with the written word is that it lacks emotion as a straight sentence. When speaking to someone, we use tone of voice giving emotion to our words (not forgetting facial expression). That makes a big difference in helping the other person to interpret how we feel and how we relate to them. However, a good letter can be written with a lot of careful thought and time given to it, the same goes for Social Media and Message Boards etc.

I would finish with two historically famous people and the message they gave were short but very powerful examples of speech and the written word

Sir Winston Churchill: When the Royal Air Force defeated the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain: Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

President Abraham Lincoln The end of the civil war.

With malice toward none; with charity for all; . . . Let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.

I trust that this Blog has been of interest Cyberterry